Community Engagement Officer SC8 | GOMA | RDC

Qualified women and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

WFP celebrates and embraces diversity.

It is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all its employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of race, colour, national origin, ethnic or social background, genetic information, gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, HIV status or disability.

ABOUT THE WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.  The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes.  Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

With 27.3 million highly food-insecure people, DRC is the largest food security crisis in the world in absolute numbers. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the highest estimated number of food-insecure people worldwide, with 27.3 million people who are food insecure between February and July 2021, representing about 28% of analysed population. Of this figure, 20.5 million people are facing “crisis” levels (IPC Phase 3) and 6.7 million people are facing “emergency” levels (IPC Phase 4) of food insecurity. An additional 41 million people are in a “stressed” state with high risk of slipping into food insecurity. Humanitarian actors continue their assistance operations despite the difficulties of access and insecurity in several provinces of the country; following the crisis in the East, WFP has scaled up its operation in 2022 despite funding challenges.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

Approximately 25.8 million people are projected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. Armed conflict, leading to massive population displacement, continues to reduce the purchasing power of the poorest households and despite WFP’s ongoing response in eastern DRC and a scale-up of operations to respond to this crisis, the growing gap between the number of people in need and those being reached with food assistance is widening. This has led WFP to activate a Corporate Scale-up Response for DRC as of 1 June.

WFP has been the target of attacks and criticism from some local/provincial authorities, pressure groups, community leaders, etc., amplified by the mainstream media and social networks. They accuse WFP of complicity with armed groups, of being behind price increases for certain commodities, or even of making the people WFP assist ‘aid dependent’ by providing them with either cash or food, rather than teaching them how to work.

In a country with a population estimated at 105 million (65 percent of whom are under 25, and one quarter of whom are illiterate), and with very limited access to mobile phones (sometimes for financial reasons, sometimes because there is no network); a variety of different approaches are being followed, including face-to-face direct engagement with community groups, university students and pressure groups as well as engagement via the media and via local authorities.

Community Engagement activities are currently conducted by members of the Communication, Advocacy and Marketing (CAM) team. WFP DRC is now seeking to recruit a national officer who will report to the Head of CAM and focus almost exclusively on Community Engagement.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES (not all inclusive):

Under the supervision of the head of CAM, the Community Engagement officer will:

1. Conduct or support on outreach activities involving groups including but not limited to community, youth and civil society groups, women’s associations, pressure groups, associations of people with disabilities, universities. These activities may include presentations, debates, meetings, open days, events marking International Days and events such as sporting or cultural events organized by WFP partners.
2. Support with official letters for organizations and entities that require this ahead of or after events.
3. Participate in the WhatsApp groups that have been developed with prospective partners. Follow up on requests for information and other comment formulated via WhatsApp and via other channels.
4. Where appropriate cooperate closely with colleagues from the Protection and Access units.
5. Process, or oversee the processing of, written feedback forms from different presentations.
6. Ensure that any feedback that might have repercussions for WFP activity is forwarded to relevant colleagues.
7. Capture all Community Engagement meetings and events in the tracker and in any other forms or documents that have been developed for this purpose.
8. For WFP’s radio messaging, together with other CAM colleagues and sometimes in conjunction with colleagues from Protection and Access, or colleagues from Programme or RAM, develop radio messaging, oversee its translation into local languages and its editing. Determine the best radio partners with whom to work for broadcasts.
9. Support the creation of vendors for new partners (radios, universities, community groups, etc.), ensuring that the prospective partners submit the necessary paperwork.
10. Support with the arranging of alternative payment modalities for partners not in possession of a vendor.
11. Work with partners doing community participation, community theatre and research in communities.
12. Help build networks of influencers, academics, students, media and others within the community.
13. Supervise any interns working in CE.
14. Be prepared to train colleagues from other unites in CE best practices.
15. Be prepared to undertake other relevant tasks as required.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

OUR WFP VALUES:

• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Engagement
• Humanity
• Inclusion

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

25/07/2023

Ref.: VA 828430

Kindly note the only documents you need to submit at this time are your CV and Cover Letter.  Additional documents such as passport, recommendation letters, academic certificates, etc may potentially be requested at a future time.

For candidates who experience problems accessing WFP E-recruitment platform and need accommodations in applying, please contact wfprecruitment@wfp.org mentioning the VA number in the subject line.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

Apply For Job